Born in Mexico City, Mexico and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Attended Michigan State University (MSU) where she graduated with a BA in International Relations & Spanish. When she graduated from MSU, she moved to Chicago and worked for Travelers and Immigrants Aid. She went on to attended the University of Cincinnati where she received her Master’s in Social Work. For nearly 3 decades she has worked as a Social Worker in the arenas of immigration, criminal justice, HIV/AIDS, pediatric, OB/GYN, community health, parenting classes and hotline crises work.
She began her teaching career as an Adjunct Professor and liaison at the University of Cincinnati from 2008-2018. When her family moved to Kansas City she began her adjunct teaching at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) in 2019 and currently is also a field liaison. AT UMKC she currently teaches the following electives online: Grief and Loss class in the Fall and the Social Work with Immigrants and Refugees class in the Spring. While living in KC she worked at Maddie Rhodes as a Covid bilingual crisis counselor and Spanish speaking parenting group facilitator. She was a lecturer at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Social Work Fall semester 2021. Over the years she has presented at the National Association of Perinatal Social Workers and the Latino Social Works Organization national confrences. She has come full circle and is now back living in Chicago. She is passionate about building healthy and compassionate communities that are inclusive for all. She is so grateful to be able to keep being a part of the UMKC family thanks to technology.
